Chapter 292 (1/2)

Chapter 292

Chapter 292: Missing Pieces

It ith a pang of regret that I sat doith the stone cube I’d received fro my first adventure in the Relicto the relic back in Maerin, I had spent very little tieometric shapes within

Still, my previous interaction with the keystone ; the Relictoe of this edict of aether, whatever it was, and drawn us into this zone to test me Or perhaps it sensed the cube itself, tucked away in h to bring us here

For being a peaceful people, the djinn seey in how they trained and protected their aetheric arts

Settling ed on the floor with the cube into watch over an

As before, I imbued aether into the relic, and its aether reached back out to h it, findingand spinning geo aether, I was able tothe I felt like an infant playing with alphabet blocks There was no rhyh I could interact with the, no idea what I was supposed to be doing

Still, I had to believe the djinn wouldn’t have given me this relic if there was no way forsiroups Next, since they were geometric and not rune based, I looked for ways in which they fit together, treating it like an abstract puzzle

This seeh shapes that I was always able to find a piece to fit Once I had a couple dozen pieces locked together, however, I realized the proble, multi-directional fractal had taken shape, but I had run out of pieces that would connect to the shape I had created

With no other choice, I broke the puzzle down and began again

All the while, I feltdrawn fro force wasn’t as bad in the Relictombs as it had been when I’d studied the keystone in Maerin, allowing er, but it still put a li on the relic in a single sitting

I organizedthe puzzle for the second ti my first attempt This time, however, I found myself at a dead end even sooner, but I was too tired to restart again

My eyes snapped open, and it took a moment for my mind to make sense of the mirror rooures

Regis was curled up in front ofthe others closely Ezra and Haedrig appeared to be asleep, while Kalon watched over Ada Her mouth had been covered to muffle the constant strea was I out?” I asked, startling Kalon, who practically jumped up to his feet

He cleared his throat and sat back down “Several hours, at least Did you do…whatever you were trying to do?”

“Ihe wouldn’t like to hear that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing

From his bench on the other side of the fountain, Ezra said, “It’s been hours, and all you can say is you’veascender stood up, glared at loo the…device before we got here,” I said, speaking to Kalon “I don’t kno long it’s going to take, but I’ what I can”

His expression stoic, Kalon asked, “Are you sure there isn’t anything we can do to help?”

“Just don’t let your brother staban eyebrow

Kalon laughed, causing the restrained and gagged Ada to snarl at his as if the sound pained her Kalon gazed at her sadly for aback to me “Do what you need to do, Grey”

I felt like a rung sponge; nearly every drop of my aether had been expended I didn’t need much sleep, but I did need ti, I ran through a series of ht et the stiffness out of my limbs After several an the process of absorbing a nearby before I heard his voice in my head

‘What’s it look like in there?’

I’ht about the disparate shapes, the patterns I had designed, the walls of aetheric energy caging it all…What does it feel like when you go inside ’

I opened is The shadoolf shrugged his shoulders

‘You asked’

Closingit through my aether channels and into e I feel like I’ to understand the contents of a co in the se you need to inhale to get us out of here?’

More, I thought A lot more

The third atteether wasn’t exactly a char Without consciouslyto use all the pieces and instead just built a large cube

The shape was relatively straightforward, fitting together naturally in my mind Once I’d decided what to build, it almost seemed as if the pieces presented themselves to me when they were needed

When the cube was colow and shi+mmer like oil on water, then the lines of the individual pieces faded away until a solid, shi+ box floated in front of me The oil-slick ripples settled and fell still, and each of the cube’s six faces lit up like an electronic screen fro is was still at his place by my side Kalon now slept while Ezra watched over his sister Haedrig, I was surprised to see, had his hand against one of the mirrors, apparently deep in conversation with its inhabitant Nothing they said was audible, however In fact, no sound cah I’d clearly h, I didn’t understand how thisto the outside world helped me, or what it revealed about the edict of aether I was atte the cube for thea second, s pieces What I ended up with, however, looked h than a true cube, as I lacked the pieces to make it perfect

It took threethe shape smaller each ti happened—no lights, no coalescence of energy, no visions of the outside world

That’s when I had

What if the cube—or, theoretically, any shape—represented the subconscious knowledge of so to learn? If I assu wasthe saht—represented by the shape I built—would notthe whole

With this in mind, I deconstructed the smaller square, but by then my aether core was near es just as I had seen the,” I said, finding my voice croaky from misuse

The ascender’s hand pulled away fro with and he quickly walked towarddrink fro so said “Weas many supplies as you before we escape this place”

“How long?”

“I’d sayatching me carefully, almost nervously

‘Actually, it’s been thirteen hours and forty-eight ’

“Wow I’er at least”

“And we’re about out of food!” Ezra cut in, looking atto just stay in there until the rest of us starve to death?”

“You should be rationing your supplies,” I snapped, but before Ezra could respond I drew e rune on et by for a few days” Glancing at Haedrig, I added, “Make sure that gets split up—and rationed this time”

Ezra tossed the bundle onto the bench next to hi took a seat next to me and drank from his own flask When I stayed silent, he turned to ?”

I shook ress, but no epiphany yet”

“That’s not what Itook another drink, then abruptly stopped hi “Look atmy own advice”

We sat in silence for acleared his throat “So, aether…”

I sighed Though I was loath to discuss it, I was also surprised it had taken so long for one of the it up after I mentioned aether to the false-Ada The best way to lie, I had decided, was to tell asquietly so Ezra wouldn’t overhear, I said, “This isn’t h you couldn’t call my previous visit an ascent, really”